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FBI and NCsoft Team Up

Multiple raids result from year-long investigation into unauthorized game-server scheme.

The owners of L2Extreme are in trouble. Allegedly, L2Extreme was providing an unauthorized game-server scheme for NCsoft's massively multiplayer online game Lineage II. An announcement sent out today says that agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation teamed with officials from NCsoft's North American office for a year-long investigation. This investigation ultimately led to a number of raids as well as search and seizure warrants. Allegedly, L2Extreme was providing up to 50,000 active users service on its unauthorized game server. NCsoft says that L2Extreme's operation cost it "millions of dollars per year."

Matt Esber, NCsoft North America's general counsel, says in the release, "We've taken this action because we strongly believe in defending the intellectual property rights that we've worked so hard to create. We're extremely pleased that the FBI has worked with us so diligently to bring this particular case to its current state and we want our customers to understand that we will continue to fight similar operations in the future in order to maintain the integrity of all NCsoft games." The story isn't over yet. Investigation into L2Extreme is ongoing and a visit to the company's website only leads to an official FBI notice regarding the seizure of the site.